Report on the Theory of Digital Graphics

Artistic styles used in computer games

Photorealism
Photorealism is a type of art that when an artist uses the use of a photo taken by
a camera and then you use this then you re-create this in another form then to
make it different, people can use various different methods like; Painting,
Drawing and using different graphic media. Photorealism is an impressive
kind of art as it can take a long time to do and this is with the use of
dedication and thats important. This kind of art started to pop up in the late
1960s and early 1970s. The movement came about within the same period
and context as Conceptual art, Pop Art, and Minimalism and expressed a
strong interest in realism in art, over that of idealism and abstraction. The
picture on the right is some work from a photorealist called Michael Gaskell
and this is amazing as it looks like it is a photograph but it isnt as it has been
drawn. Photorealism shows that a computer generated graphic can look as real
as real life, so that the game is more captivating. Photorealism isnt being used a
lot in the industry especially as it takes a lot of time to do and this would make
the development of the game take too long, like the game can be made and then
you have to extend and the game would just take a long time. It is very
competitive in the gaming industry as companies are competing to have the
most realistic looking game. The most realistic game at the moment is the Grand
Theft Auto Five game and this is made through the use of Motion capture and
that is what the game will be about and the photorealism is an interesting
method but it just takes too long.
Cell-shading
Cell shading is a form of non- photorealistic art rendering that has been designed
to make a 3D computer graphic. The cell-shading method is used to make 3D
computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading colour instead of a
shade gradient or tints and shades as this would create more of a 3D effect. It is
common for the characters to mainly be of block colours will minimal/some
shading and highlights. The cell shading needs to be implemented into any game
and it is mainly going to be used for the 3d models and characters. This process
is fairly simple, first you have to draw the object, then secondly you have to draw
the outline of the object with a texture and then you use a concept of shading
and then work out how to do this. The shading object will need to be different as
it will be to do with movements and then this has lots of different programing as
the shading and shadows dont stay the same throughout everything.
Abstraction
Abstraction games can be made using any platform with any pixel rate.
Abstraction games tend to use a lot of colour and they use lots of basic shaping
and different models. An example of an abstraction game would be angry birds
as this game is very good and addictive to play with lots of different levels into it.
The goal is to destroy the tower only with the birds and bird types they have
given you, these will change throughout the different levels. In general
abstraction the main goal is to survive as long as possible, in this case (angry

birds) it is to get as far as possible, using the birds that you

have in the littlest of moves as you can gain lots from it.
Abstraction games dont tend to have a plot or running
storyline as the goal is to survive. Abstraction games such
as angry birds have score charts where you can see what
score you have compared to other players online.

Exaggeration
Anime- Is a type of cartoon film has very exaggerated features
as their own kind of anime style the creators and designers like to
make certain parts of the characters exaggerated to give them a
certain look, they are Japanese normally and they are then
created like this with exaggerated style on top. A common
exaggeration of a female character is large eyes, brightly
coloured hair/eyes and disproportionate bodies/enhancing certain
parts of the body, they are an interesting design and not everybody likes this
about them. A typical exaggerated look for male characters Is smaller eyes,
overall broad shoulders, very tall, bright coloured hair/eyes. Anime has become
so popular that anime style is now making it into the gaming industry and has
been for a few years now, this gaming community are getting bigger and the
anime kind of style is also quite good as well nowadays. It can be created in
either 2D or 3D, 3 dimensional models, motion capture. Some popular anime
style games would be final fantasy, Kingdom hearts and Pokmon. These games
are also made into a tv series like the pokemon adventures.
Manga- Manga games are like dolls but virtual and then you have the chance of
making them look the way you want. This can be done by changing their
hair/makeup. In each of these games the player is given an anime graphic on
their screen and then they can interact with it and making the person wear
clothing that you want them to wear and then you can play with them then
in another world this type of game doesnt take a long time as them isnt
very much things to do other than just playing dress up. An example of a
manga game is called Kingdom hearts. A manga game would only need
one person and wouldnt take too long to make. The main difference
between manga and anime is that anime will have animation and the
characters will move, talk and are interactive there are also playable
characters and non-playable characters and tend to be in 3D whereas a
manga game is a commonly a 2D game where it is a still image and isnt
interactive. A manga kind of game would usually be for the mobile device market
or online as people dont want to spend a long time on a game that you will be
able to play for only a few minutes. These types of games will be played by
young girls as they want to learn about manga but they dont want to be getting
into anything to much yet and they will just be able to download it on a mobile
device or on a tablet and play it so they dont get bored.
Graphics research
Picture element

A pixel is what an image or picture is made up of. This is represented by

thousands and thousands of different pixels. Pixels are
shown
and produced as different squares horizontally and
vertically, they are all joined together like a square grid.
Each and every square has a different colour, you will
never get a pixel with two or more colours inside.

Image resolution
Each photo or image has a different resolution which is the total number of
pixels, so if you had an images with a low resolution it will be easier to see the
pixels, whereas if you had a high resolution image it would be much harder to
see the pixels. The image resolution can change as you edit and stretch the
image, but you will definitely see the pixels clearer.
As you can see from the left picture it is very pixelated and unrecognisable.
Whereas the right photo isnt and you can see it.

Colour Intensity
The intensity in pictures has three colour channels and these are; yellow, blue
and red. You will use these different colours to create different atmospheres like
bright, light and dark. You will be able to change the intensity of your picture by
yourself through bundles of colour. The more intense you make the colour the
sharper the photo will be.

Raster

images
Data
compression
Data compression is a technique that is used for reducing a file size of different
images, so it allows the images to be stored onto something like a disc. The
quality of an image is reduced when compared images so some of the

information is lost and this makes

the file size a lot smaller. The high
resolution cant be scaled on raster
images as it leads to disadvantages
of the image losing quality in the
picture being a high resolution. On
the other hand, lossless is when
images can be undone and can be
a result of the picture being in a high resolution, this is used for vector graphics
is because the size will be same quality. Raster images are used in paint
programs such as Photoshop. A raster image is also called a bitmap. Raster
images can take a whole range of formats. A digital camera has the default
format as a PNG, but this is hard for people like photographers as they cant edit
them as well as they like, so these photographers will change the file format
from a PNG to a raw file. A raw file is a file that will capture the original state, but
it will add the image presents. These are things like ISO, Colour temp and f-stop.
The raw file can still keep the original data in case you dont like the new effects.
The raw file images is good for photographers as it can give them some more
help in other programs. These are some raw file extensions: NEF (Nikon), CR2
(Cannon), ORF (Olympus), there are many more.
Image formats
BMP (Best Management Practices). This is an image format used to store
bitmap digital images for Microsoft Windows and OS operating systems.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics). This is a raster image file format that can
support lossless data compression. A PNG was created as an improved and as a
replacement for GIFS. A PNG is designed so that you can transfer it through the
internet, this image type is not recommended for printing. A PNG will allow and
support transparency. A PNG cannot be used to scale as it will not look good. This
is a raster type image.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). This is a bitmap image format that has
been used on the World Wide Web and its wide support and portability. A gif is
use specifically for online uses. A gif can be used for animation as there are small
file sizes and supports transparency. A gif is like a PNG but a lower quality. This
is a raster type image.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). This is used to store grey-scale data, it is the
normal format for scanned images, and exporting grey-scale and colour images
to other programs.
JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). This is the same as a GIF but can
contains more colours, and usually results in loss of quality. A JPG is mainly used
for high quality photos and will not support any transparency. A jpeg is not
recommended for printing as it wont be a good quality. This is a raster type
image.
PSD (Photoshop Data File). This is used on Photoshop which is a graphics
editing program. It is a file format that is made up from layers which are joined
together. This has a lot of support when it comes to layers, in Photoshop you will

use a lot of layers like this is to create what you want. This is a raster image
type.

Vector images
Vector images are more flexible than
Raster images because they can be
recognised more easily as they can be resized
and stretched. Vector images are known to look
better on devices like monitors and printers as
they change depending on the device resolution.
Vector images are created on softwares like
Adobe illustrator, Corel draw and many others.
You will find a vector image in logos as you can rescale them. They are used for
mapping software, which means you can zoom in and out to find different places
or find smaller routes. A vector image can be used in cartoons as you can see
them in a better quality.

Zoomed in

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript Vector Graphics). This is a file extension that

contains text as well as graphics. It will also contain a bitmap version of the
image for simpler viewing.
AI (Adobe Illustrator Artwork). This is the file extension for
adobe illustrator, it is used to represent single- page vectorbased drawings in EPS or PDF.
FLA (Flash Document). This is a file that can be edited, but
when you convert it or export the flash document it
becomes a SWF document that you will be able to see in
most browsers through a Flash plugin.
Vector images have line segments which comes between two different anchor
points, a main image is made up of lots of smaller individual lines. Theses line
segments are what makes up a Vector image.

Vector images also have polygons to allow any

paths on the image to create three or more
line segments to join together. A curve will be
calculated and drawn by knowing the position
of two end points and the central point.
A vector image will stay the same when being
moved around, this will also not have a
background but a transparent background. A
Raster image will have a background and this
will mean you will have to crop it down and
resize. A vector image is easier to use.

Bit depth
Bit depth looks at how many different colours there are in
a colour palette, this is determined by how many bits are in
an image. Images with a high bit rate will have more
shades of colours as they have more zeros and ones in the
code, for example 10100011. The bit depth will also have a
high level of precision when it tries to specify the colour, inside
each single pixel. These primary colours are red, green and blue
these are from the colour channels. Monochrome is black, white
or greyscale. This allows different shades of a colour to be
stored on the computers memory. The High colour is a way of
making different colours brighter. The true colour is a way of storing information
about a big bunch of colours and shades.

Colour space
Colour space is also known as colour model; this is
a system that is put in place to help you show
colour in a pacific order.
Greyscale
Greyscale are different shades of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) to make up a
different shades of colour. These colours have the same intensity space; this
means that there is less information for each pixel. The intensity of these colours
will be the same as the RGB image because there are less pixels needing less
information.

RGB
RGB is colour made up of Red, Green and Blue. These are colours that when put
together make a colour that can be seen on a displayed device. These colours
can also be used in changing the colour on an image, it is popular in game
graphics. You will use RGB for computer monitors, email, television, all digital

files. CMYK uses the colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and

Black. CMYK also has about 1 million different colour
variants, CMYK is used for posters, business cards,
brochures and leaflets.

YUV
YUV is used for video and TV. The colour information is used for things like
luminance, The Y is used for bandwidth or chrominance and the U V is used to
reduce the chrominance. They are used when the colour is full resolution
while the U and V are not good quality.
HSV
HSV stands for Hue, Saturation and Value. The Hue stands for colour.
Saturation is the richness or vibrancy of the colour. The Value is the light
that comes of an object.
Image capture
Cameras
Compact (point and shoot) 60 - 400: A compact camera
is what people use if they are going on an adventure or a
holiday, it is easy as it can be placed into your pocket.
This is often the best choice for everyday snapshots. The
problem is that it is not a high quality, it cant work within
low light so it has a built-in flash. One main problem is
that you cant change the lenses. The average resolution for a point and shoot is
about 14 megapixels.
Bridge Camera 150 - 800: A bridge camera is the cross
between a compact camera and a DSLR camera. The camera
has the same manual controls as a DSLR but has a higher
quality than a compact camera. A bridge camera has a good
lens as they can reach 35x, this has a big problem as it cant be
changed. This means you cant take it around with you as it is
less portable. The average resolution for a bridge camera is
about 22 to 28 megapixels.
DSLR 550- 3000+: These cameras are used for
professional photographers as they have the best
quality for taking images, The DSLR Cameras are easily
changeable as you can change over the lenses and you
get a larger quality of resolution. The problem is that
they are more expensive, with this it means that you
have to have money to get additional parts. The
average resolution for a DSLR is about 40 to 60 megapixels.
Phone camera Free - 500: Everybody has a phone that comes with a camera
and this is very portable. The phones in this day in age are getting better, the
new IPhone 6S has full HD 1080P and the video shoots in 4k. This is means that

they are better than some DSLRS. Phones can have low
quality. The average resolution for a phone can be from 8 to
20 megapixels.
Scanners
3D scanners: A 3D template can only read by 3D scanner.
They are mostly used for cataloguing and archiving objects, the only problem is
that you have to glue different point of reference.
Book scanners: A book scanner is used for reading script bound documents. This
has special version for scanning records and maps.
Document scanners: These are for placing real life documents
onto a computer, this is then for you to print of or to edit a
document, the scanner produces the file as an ADF document,
this stands for Automatic Document Feeder.
There are many more.

Resolution
There are different sizes of resolution there is 320P
which is very low to 720p and 1080P these are high
resolution and are in HD quality. The main image
resolution on a computer is about 72 to 96 DPI, but
the print size is usually set to about 300 DPI. You can
usually enlarge or adjust this through graphic
software such as Photoshop. You can change to resolution through a cameras
setting to get a better quality. A cheap camera will be produced at 256x256, a
mid-ranged camera is 640x580 and 1216x912 and finally the best quality
camera is 2240x1680.
High resolution: 300 DPI, this is used for magazines and high quality prints.
Low resolution: 75 DPI, this is used for online and screen use, this is not good for
printing.

Storage
There are many different types of storage devices for different devices, every
piece of electronics needs a storage type, and this is to store different types of
data.
SD cards: SD cards stand for Secure Digital. You can get different sizes of them,
you can also get SDHC and SDXC. These both stand for Secure Digital High
Capacity and also Secure Digital eXtended Capacity. These were created so
that you can fit more data on them.
Standard- up to 2GB

High capacity- 2GB to 32GB

Extended capacity 32GB to 2TB
Memory sticks: A memory stick is also known as removable
flash memory card that came out in 1998 by Sony. The memory
stick is something that people will carry around with them on a
day to day basis.
Hard drives: A hard drive can be internally inside a computer and an
external hard drive is something that you can carry around but it is not too easy
to do so.
Online: You can store items on the cloud, this can be done through OneDrive,
iCloud, Dropbox, etc. The items you can store photos, music, documents. People
can even access your account and copy the files across to their own computer.

Optimising
Optimising is used every day in the worldwide web (WWW), this happens when
you get an image that is too large for the webpage, this is then resized and made
sure it fits for the webpage. A disadvantage is that people wont wait for a long
time for the webpage images to load in, they will just find another website to get
a picture. You can use softwares such as fireworks that will help to reduce the
file size but then wont reduce the quality. If a computer size resolution is 72ppi,
then the images on the worldwide web will usually then be set to 72ppi. Some
computer screens can be set to 96ppi, but the internet will just produce the
images at 72ppi. The size of the image that is being viewed on the worldwide
web wouldnt make any difference because its to do with how its been viewed.

These are the Different file formats, the biggest file size is a .TIFF and a .BMP. The
smallest file size is a .GIF and a .JPEG. You can use softwares such as Adobe
Photoshop to generate these other file extensions.

Computer game graphics

Pixel art

2D Sprites- A 2D sprite is an object or item or character

that is in a 2Dimentional form and these sprites are
interesting things. Use of the term "sprite" has expanded
to refer to any two-dimensional bitmap used as part of a
graphics display, even if drawn into a frame buffer (by
either software or a GPU) instead of being composited
on-the-fly at display time. The use of a sprite is a process
that the computer uses and makes. The use of pixels is
there and they will make the game retro and old. Pixelated art with the use of
2Dimentional sprites are what the games and what everything
was like
earlier on in the gaming history. The sonic hedgehog
games are good and this is the sprites movements
throughout the game and this is the pixel art for it.
3D isometric sprites- A 3D isometric sprites are where
the viewpoint is rotated slightly to reveal other facets of
the game environment than are typically visible from a
top-down perspective or side view, thereby producing a
three-dimensional effect. A 3D sprite is when something
has some depth and then therefore is made to look like it is
in a 3D mode this is mainly what games were trying to do in the early stages of
gaming and then this took off and now everything is made to look like this. The
3D perspective in a game is fun as it makes things look different but that is used
to make some depth.
Concept art
Concept art for games are important as you will need to use
this in order to get some good ideas. Concept art is a form
of a image and is used to enhance an idea for use in films,
video games, animation, comic books or other media before
it is put into the final product, this is so that they can get a
good feel for what it should be like and then you can use
this to change things around without compromising any problems with it. A lot of
concept art is made so that you dont have a problem with it and a lot of peoples
work will generally get rejected and put to one side as they dont like it. The
Artists will try several designs to achieve the desired result for the work, or
sometimes searching for an interesting result. Designs are filtered and refined in
stages to narrow down the options. The concept art for lots of games or things
are made so that people have a big industry for their minds to work.
Characters
Another big thing that you need for a game is a character, once
you have created the concept art for the character(s) you need
to make sure you then create them into a virtual world and then
they have a chance to start to adapt them and change things
that they didnt need or just didnt like. The character needs to be
fully correct and then added to a skeleton so that once they are
ready they can animate it and then they will be able to be placed into the world.
The character will be exciting as you can do a lot of things with that character.

Weapons
Weapons are the best thing usually about a game as you can do a lot
of new things with it. The weapon is a device or interactive object
that can be used to hurt or seriously harm another player or
character. A lot of games use a weapon to make people aware that
this game is going to be a violent game to be around. The weapon is
used to make sure that people are scared and this is what makes the
game fun at the same time. A weapon is made from concept art like
characters but this need to inflict pain so therefore the characters will need to
have some kind of a bloody clothes and thats not easy to make so the weapons
themselves are easy to make it is the other things that happen with the game
around it. The body needs to be dead and this needs to look like it as it needs to
have something about it.
Vehicle
Vehicles in a game are usually used to get from one place
to another faster and then making the game fun as you
have to chase them or find them to do something to them.
The vehicle in a game can be fun as you can get things like
tanks or bomber planes and then you have to use
something that you wouldnt normally use to kill something
or someone with. A vehicle might not move or do anything
if it is a NPC and therefore you might be able to cause damage and pain. A
vehicle in some games might and probably will be hard to control as you wont
normally know unless youre a professional gamer. A vehicles design will have
started from the start from the concept art and then designed and changed
throughout different things to get to the latest
designs, in some games like GTA you can use a vehicle
to then modify it and then change different features
about that to get the best designs.
Environment
The environment for games are different depending on
what it is about. The environment is going to be
interesting as you have to make the game feel realistic
and the surrounding environment. The surroundings are good as they need to
make the sounds and the graphics for pretty much everything. The environment
needs to go with the choice of the game and the genre otherwise the people will
be confused and they wont have a lot of problems with things. The environment
is a good way for people to enjoy the game more and then this is a fun thing to
do and to add to it.
Texture art

Texture art is used on an item and then the artist adds

a texture and this can then add some depth and this
makes items look good. The texture art is usually
added into the design process as the designers want
the game to look good and this can just be a fun
addition. The texture art of the games is a process that
can take a long time as the game needs to look
aesthetically pleasing and therefore good.
Background graphics
Walls
Walls on the background can be used to help you hide from opposing players and
they can be useful for a lot of different things.
The walls are going to be good as they will allow
the player to hide and then take cover from
people that might be attacking them and then
this makes the player then be able to heal and
recover health. A wall might also be used to
climb on and then you can get into different
areas of the map and then do all the work. The walls in a game might also be a
way to block the user into not going into that section until you get to a high level
and then need to go through that into the story mode and to advance it. The
walls might just be used for aesthetic purposes only.
Forests
A forest in a game can be used in very many different ways. The forest in a game
just will be helpful as you can hide from people and then people wont go into
your area as you can stop them from taking over. The forest can also become a
non-interactive as they will just be either cartoon or just dont do anything. The
forest in a game is fun as it tells you where abouts you are instead of a colourful
plain background. The forest means that there could be a survival element to it
and this also might have some dangerous animals in their as well. The forest
might also tell people that they are going to be set in a primitive land or this
place that they are in is going to be a place that hasnt been built up yet.

Clouds
Clouds in a game are used to make the game feel more realistic and that makes
it more fun. Clouds can be animated so they move but this makes the game
more fun but this needs to have the physical side to it and this is something that

could be a problem as you need to make sure that it goes at a certain speed and
that it looks like it should do. The clouds in a game are used to
make it realistic and it can just be an addition to whatever the
game will be. You can even colour the clouds if it is a war game as
it makes the battlefield grimmer and more dark. The clouds are
also used to make it rain and that is fun and they need to
implement this into the game as it needs to have water coming out
of the clouds and then you also have puddles on the floor.
In-game interface (IGN) + Head up Display (HUD)
An in game interface is a
layered graphic that shows
the different
things on the player. The
HUD is used
in a game to tell the gamer
whatever the
game creator wants us to
see. The HUD
is exciting as you can see
what the map
looks like in the top corner
usually and if
you have a weapon out in
your hand
then you can see the armour
and the
amount of bullets that you
have left for
that particular weapon. The HUD is used to make the display on the screen easy
to see, another thing that is good is the fact that if you had a chat group you will
also be able to see this as well. The HUD might be a bit different if your character
is wearing a helmet as it will be visibly restricted and hard to see as the game
needs to be the same throughout. The vehicle settings and seeing distance is
also going to be hard to see as youre going to be in something like a plane and
you can see all the normal controls.
Print Media art
Game packaging (Console cover/ box)
If you create a game and you are partnered up with a company
such as Sony and Microsoft. Then you can use a character or
some type of graphic or concept art so that people will buy that
one as it could be a limited edition console. You can also get
custom skins that you could put onto the console about that
specific game. Games are usually included as a bundle or a deal
so you will get promotional images and screenplay and logo of
that game as it is a new one.
Box Cover (DVD container)
A box is used in a game to promote the content on the disk, the disk will
usually have a detail set of information, the story about the game. It will
also have a logo, title and the brand of the people who created it. There
will also be an age rating from Pegi and this means that they have to be a
certain age to buy it. The box cover is important as well as it will keep the
disk in place and safe so that people dont lose it or get the disk
scratched. The box is a unique way to sell the game without them ever actually
seeing anything.
A3 Poster.

A A3 poster is like a Box cover as it will show the games character and then this
makes it so you will be interested by this in that game. The
poster will show a lot of the cool features on it, it also might show a
release date of when it will be coming out. The poster will be pretty
simple and plain as they dont what them to show to much of
the game away and this game will be good to see as a different
perspective as well. A poster is just another way of selling the
game to the market as they see it in their minds.